Guy makes a knife from scratch. He has to make a smelter first.

Post by kragen » Mon, Jun 13, 2011, 5:16 AM UTC

toddh wrote: post #49

RomP wrote: post #47

I sometimes wonder how long would it take for the civilization to re-create the current level of technology, if all the material artifacts disappear one day: books, computers, robots, factories, even hammers. If all that remains is the current level of knowledge in the heads of 7bln people, how long would it take from the stone age to Core i7, heart transplants and Boeing 787s? And how much different the world would…

A question I've had about this is where are the ready supplies of materials that could be used in the recreation? Could we spread across the hills and still find iron and copper deposits? Aren't these all played out by now? We would need to shift to another economic base from new materials I think rather than recreate what we had before, because that's gone.

Post by mzl » Mon, Jun 13, 2011, 5:49 AM UTC

kragen wrote: post #98

pyrhho wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

- Better Bread? Historically bakers had extremely short lives because without mixers they had to breathe in the flour dust all day. And the bread would have been extremely unevenly cooked (no temperature-regulated ovens), as well as being extremely salty (no preservatives). - Pasta? Pasta is absolutely amazing. It is an extremely dense source of calories, which doesn't rot, is super-compact, and only requires water a…

Sorry, but you're wrong, and I think your racism is showing. Potatoes have been eaten for 7000 years, and tomatoes for 2500 years. They were introduced into Europe in the sixteenth century (and tomatoes weren't eaten there at first), but here in America, we've been eating them since well before medieval times.

Post by irragal » Mon, Jun 13, 2011, 6:26 AM UTC

gaustin wrote: post #71

WalterBright wrote: post #60

I'd like to see someone make a knife without using any modern technology precursors whatsoever. That means starting from using ones hands and what is available from nature in its natural form. I think it'd be quite an accomplishment.

People already do this. Some only go so far as stone blades, or allow modern tools for certain steps. Others bootstrap the whole process from stone-age to steel. I've never done it. It's incredibly time consuming but satisfying, from the first hand accounts I've read. You can cut hours or days off of your work time by using modern tools for some of the most seemingly trivial steps.

Post by stephen_g » Mon, Jun 13, 2011, 7:10 AM UTC

eli wrote: post #46

barrkel wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think he's trying to make a knife from scratch, not make a knife only using stone-age technology.

Hey, I get it and I think it's actually a neat project. But "from scratch" is an entirely meaningless phrase.

Post by obeattie » Mon, Jun 13, 2011, 7:50 AM UTC

ars wrote: post #100

chc wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never made any pasta from scratch, but they sell whole-wheat pasta at my local grocer, so I assume it must be possible.

I've seen it too, but it's not regular pasta, it has some other ingredients, so I'm not sure you could make it by hand successfully. I don't actually know if you can or not, I was just wondering.